Vipas

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The Vipas ( Sanskrit , विपाश, vipāś ), the "broad and beautiful", is one of the mythical seven Vedic rivers ( Sapta Sindhu ).

Vedas

The Vedas describe the Vipas as a tributary of the Sindhu. The Sanskrit word Sindhu means river, stream or ocean. The vipas originated in the mountains and, according to the Vedas, flowed parallel to the Sutudri, "like two light-colored cows licking their calves". The Sutudri was a tributary of the Vipa. According to Rigveda, Vishvamitra , one of the greatest Rishis , is said to have crossed Sutudri and Vipas with a cart and chariot ( ratha ) near their confluence after praying to the rivers for a ford. Ushas , the goddess of the dawn, falls into the vipas after Indra destroys her chariot.

Nirukta

According to Nirukta , a classic work of Vedic etymology, the river was originally called Uranjira or Arjikia. He received the name Vipas because of one of the suicide attempts of Vasishta , one of the great 'Seven Rishis' (Sapta Rishis), who threw himself into the swollen river with his arms tied, but which threw him back unbound ( vipasa ).

Today's assignments

Today the Sindhu is equated with the Indus , the Vipas with the Beas (Biyas). Whether the Sutudri corresponds to the Sutlej , which is otherwise called Satudri, is controversial, Oldham pleads for an equation with the Chukki , a tributary of the Beas. However, the identification of the Vedic rivers is highly politically charged, as it plays a role in the discussion about the origin of the Aryans (autochthonous or immigrant).

swell

  • Irfan Habib, Faiz Habib: The Historical Geography of India, 1800–800 BC. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 52nd session: 1991-1992. New Delhi 1992, pp. 78-79, 91.
  • CF Oldham: The Saraswati and the Lost River of the Indian Desert. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 1893, pp. 49-76.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CF Oldham: The Saraswatī and the Lost River of the Indian Desert. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 1893, p. 57.
  2. ↑ Rigveda, III. 31.1-3; IV.30.11
  3. ↑ Rigveda 3,33,1 de sa 
  4. ↑ Rigveda 3.33 de sa 
  5. ↑ CF Oldham: The Saraswati and the Lost River of the Indian Desert. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 1893, p. 56.
  6. ↑ Nirukta II. 24.
  7. ↑ CF Oldham: The Saraswati and the Lost River of the Indian Desert. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 1893, p. 56.
  8. ↑ for the background see Irfan Habib: Imaging River Sarasvati: A Defense of Commonsense. In: Social Scientist. 29 / 1–2 2001, pp. 46–74.